One to Buy: ex-works four-time race-winning 1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR
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To stand any chance of beating the all-conquering McLaren F1 GTR which had been developed without regard to expense as the finest road car ever made, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche were forced to create reverse engineered Prototypes that were very much against the spirit of the 1990’s GT regulations.
Nissan and Toyota similarly got in on the act with the net result that, by the end of 1998, this group of manufacturers had destroyed the top flight GT racing scene in pursuit of their own agenda.
Nevertheless, the short-lived arms race that ensued between 1996 and 1998 saw the emergence of some seriously exciting GT machinery, the like of which has not been seen since. However, while Porsche managed to bag a class win at Le Mans in 1996 and an outright victory at la Sarthe with the 911 GT1 in 1998, only Mercedes-Benz was able to take the fight to McLaren over the course of an entire season with their infamous CLK GTR.
With six wins to his name, it was Mercedes’ Bernd Schneider that emerged as Drivers’ Champion during that memorable 1997 FIA GT campaign. Meanwhile AMG took the Teams’ title to secure a historic double for the Stuttgart manufacturer.
Currently going under a live sealed auction process with RM Sotheby’s is CLK GTR chassis 004 which propelled Bernd Schneider to four of his half dozen wins in 1997.
Following it completion, 004 was hastily converted to road trim for the CLK GTR’s official homologation inspection which took place on April 1st 1997, after which it reverted to racing spec. for the season-opening Hockenheim 4 Hours.
Chassis 004 ultimately went on to score wins at the Nurburgring 4 Hours, Sebring 3 Hours and Laguna Seca 3 Hours (all with Schneider and Klaus Ludwig at the wheel) plus the Donington 4 Hours (where Schneider was co-driven by Alexander Wurz). The car also secured a brace of second place finishes (at Silverstone and Helsinki) plus a quintet of pole positions and a similar number of fastest laps.
Mercedes retained this, the most successful CLK GTR of 1997, until 2015, since which time it has resided in a single collection.
